Michael Clarke in serious doubt for 1st Test against India

Sydney, Nov 20 (IANS) Skipper Michael Clarke remains in extreme doubt for the first Test against India, starting Dec 4, after Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed his latest hamstring issue is a recurrence of the injury he suffered in Zimbabwe.

Clarke has also aggravated his troublesome back condition, further clouding the timeline for his return to cricket.

He has not been ruled out of the first Test in Brisbane but nor has CA predicted when he will be able to come back.

"Michael's got a recurrence of the hamstring injury that he had in Zimbabwe. It's not as bad as what it was in Zimbabwe but it's in the same location," Alex Kountouris, CA physio was quoted as saying by the SYdney Morning Herald.

"He's also got a sore back. He's had an aggravation of his back - the two are tied together which makes it quite complex."

Clarke missed 10 weeks of cricket after breaking down in Zimbabwe at the end of August. The injury is not considered as serious this time, and it is believed he will play some part in the international summer, provided there is no further setback.

Clarke, however, would have to be an outside chance at best of leading his team onto the field in Brisbane against India.

He has already been ruled out of next week's Shield game for New South Wales.

"I can't put a finger on it right now, he hasn't started running, hasn't started doing the functional things we want him to do. He hasn't been able to bat, he's not ready to play at the moment," Kountouris said.

"We're still hopeful he might be right for the first Test because that's two weeks away but we need to review it again next week. He needs to start running and doing things before we make a decision on whether he's okay to start to play something."